On W List of Movie Reviews
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The Wicker Man (1973)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
10/06, 2/10, 2/24
10/06:
The Citizen Kane of horror films?
Well, I wish I saw The Wicker Man a long time ago because it's that damn good. I'm a big fan of Anthony Shaffer, and
his screenplays are always gold. It's been the case for this. By the way, his twin brother Peter wrote the script
for Amadeus, Best Picture Winner of 1985.
The Wicker Man is a true work of art because it ceases to be scary as a horror picture and begins to be scary
as a philosophical picture. What is it like to reside on an island that lives by its own laws and doesn't conform to the
moralities of the outside world? Actually, this happens everywhere which is more often than you think. That's the theme of
the film with a shocking end result.
The genius behind such a story, as evidenced in Don Siegel's
Invasion of the Body Snatchers, is to make the
world seemingly ordinary that's free of monsters, blood, gore, etc. Yet there's something fundamentally wrong
with the picture. That's why The Wicker Man succeeds.
I've been thinking how the inspector should get out of the situation because he's the only one who knows what's going on.
Ultimately, it's the final ten minutes that puts the stamp on The Wicker Man as a horror masterpiece which
plays out the same way as Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado.
All in all, The Wicker Man is one of the greatest movies made.
2/10:
The Wicker Man is an eerie British cult horror masterpiece that's penned by Anthony Shaffer.
The performances are low-key, making the story, rather the mystery, be the focal point of the film. It gets
weirder and weirder when the inspector finds out more of what's going on. Absolutely chilling and unforgettable is the
final scene. I feel for him. Also, I love the tie-in with the short story The Cask of Amontillado
by Edgar Allan Poe.
All in all, if you want to see a philosophical horror film, The Wicker Man is your best bet which is unlike anything.
2/24:
Dropping my rating from '10' to '9', there are some problems with The Wicker Man.
Don't get me wrong. It's still an outstanding film with a genius script by Anthony Shaffer. The theme is christianity vs.
paganism. What Sergeant Neil Howie (Edward Woodward) was feeling is fine, but it's still not enough. He should be
expressing shock all the time because what's happening on Lord Summerisle's island is out of the world.
The second error is not looking for a phone to call his station on the mainland. Britt Ekland's long
nude scene is gratuitously pointless. Had it been shorter, then okay...I can accept that. The fourth is the ending which is hard
to believe, but the point has been made. Instead of giving in so easily, Howie should be fighting hard for his life.
A poor man's Michael Caine, Edward Woodward gives a terrific performance. I love the editing and the cinematography which
was shot on location in Scotland. Christopher Lee is average because he's never been a great actor. Naturally, he would call
it the best film he had done; that's because he did schlocky horror films for so long. By the way, you'll see Peter
Snell's name as the producer, but it's not the same guy who set world records and won Olympic gold medals in running.
All in all, The Wicker Man is still one of the best films in UK history.